bunny acting weird

[Hattrick]

I’d better explain that…

3.5 months old, we’ve had him for 5 weeks. Seems generally healthy and happy except for these episodes he’s been having, twice now spaced a week apart. First he starts flattening his hindquarters to the ground, then stretches way out. Keeps lowering his belly to the ground. Repeatedly rolls onto his side. (He hasn’t been doing the bunny flop until now; on its own this wouldn’t be worrying, but combined with the other behavior, we’re not so sure.) Doesn’t seem to want to run around, or even move much. The first time it happened he kept backing into a corner, even circling around backwards. It freaked us out so much we immediately took him to a vet, who found nothing wrong (though no scans or tests were done). First episode lasted about an hour, the 2nd a couple of hours. He doesn’t really eat much while this is going on, but his appetite before and after is normal, and droppings also appear normal though sometimes on the small side.

 

Doesn’t make sounds we’ve read rabbits may make if they’re in pain, though as the vet said he’s acting as if he’s in discomfort (he was normal again when we took him in, of course). I said he seems generally healthy, but we have been having an issue with too many uneaten cecotropes, despite that he gets loads of hay and a very small helping of nuggets – flies in the face of advice to give unlimited nuggets while young, I know, but as too many uneaten cecos is usually said to be the result of too many nuggets, we’re flummoxed about what else to do with his diet.

[jerseygirl]

What a handsome guy!!

Pressing the tummy down or repeatedly throwing himself onto the side sounds like he may have had some discomfort from gas.
Have you by any chance started veggies/greens in his diet? Or introduced anything else?

When a bun gets like this, they’ll often tolerate a tummy massage – whereas when they’re feeling good, they normally won’t let you do this. When they do let you massage, to me, that confirms they have gas pain and are getting relief.
(IF the stomach feels hard and round, it’s important not to massage. This can be sign of bloat and needs immediate vet attention)

I always have simethicone (Infant gas med) at home to give. I often will see a change after 20 minutes.
Are you posting from the UK? (You mentioned nuggets, a term I’ve noticed many uk bunny owners say). Anyway, you can get Infacol brand which is bunny safe.

ETA: http://youtu.be/LbyC6CWbm5M

[LBJ10]

I agree with Jerseygirl. It sounds like it could be gas.

[Hattrick]

Thanks very much for your reply. We’ve been giving him greens, beginning with a small amount of parsley, but started with that several weeks before his first episode. Nothing else new. He’s a British bunny, yes.

Will try massage if it happens again, taking care, as you said, not to if his stomach feels hard. Have just read about the horrors of bloat. Sometimes I think rabbits could’ve been slightly better designed, at least on the inside…

 Here he is giving me a tummy massage

[Hattrick]

I forgot to mention – we had a suspicion that he might have swallowed a bit of bin bag about the size of a small coin, and were worried about that, especially as it happened the day before his first incident, but when his distress passed we didn’t think too much more about it. We didn’t notice anything suspect passing through his system until the morning after the 2nd incident, when I found a very hard, dark thing the size of a typical dropping.

[Bam]

A bun ingesting a small piece of a bin bag is most often nothing to worry about, buns sometimes happen to eat inappropriate things like pieces of shoes or bags or bed linen etc.
This sounds like gas, as the others have said. Baby gas drops and massages are good during an episode. Long term you want to try and make your bun eat hay, as he seems to be doing already. Don’t make any abrupt changes to his diet, that’s never advisable with buns, but try to encourage hay-eating. Some buns can’t tolerate some brands of pellets, so you could try another type. Science Selective has a high fiber-content f ex. Oxbow is another good brand. You want one with lots of fiber. If you are in the UK, there’s a paste called Fiberplex that can get an upset bunny tummy in shape.

[Hattrick]

Thanks again for the help.
Handsome guy loves his hay and has an unlimited supply, and we’ve been careful and slow about introducing new things.

[Author]

Messages